Abstract ID: A10
Abstract Title: PATIENTS’ KNOWLEDGE AND CONCERNS REGARDING REGIONAL ANESTHESIA
Authors: McCartney C1, Gibbs A2, Abbas S3, Chan V4
Toronto Western Hospital Toronto ON Canada
Poster Type: Poster
ABSTRACT BODY
Introduction:
Regional anesthesia (RA) provides a number of benefits compared to general anesthesia for many types of surgery. However patients have concerns about the type of anesthetic they will receive and this can influence their choice. Potentially useful techniques such as RA are sometimes not used because of patient refusal. This survey aimed to explore patient's opinions and concerns regarding regional anesthesia.
Materials and Methods:
After Research Ethics Board approval and written informed consent, patients undergoing elective, orthopedic, urologic or plastic surgery in Toronto Western Hospital completed a questionnaire prior to surgery regarding their opinions and concerns about regional anesthesia. The inclusion criteria were all surgical types where regional anesthesia (RA) or general anesthesia (GA) was an option.
The survey consisted of multiple choice and fill-in-the blank questions. A five-point Likert scale of agreement with certain statements examined opinions and concerns regarding RA.
Patients were asked to complete a further survey at home on postoperative day 3 regarding their anesthetic experience on that admission.
Data were analyzed using SPSS version 10.0. Data is presented as median (range) and mean (SD) as appropriate. Non-parametric data was examined using Chi-Squared test. P<0.05 was considered significant.
Results:
Two hundred and fifty patients completed a preoperative questionnaire and 124 questionnaires completed at home were returned (49.6%). 58.6% of patients were male and 55.5% had a college or university education.
Prior to surgery patients believed that RA provided better pain control, earlier dietary intake with less nausea and earlier contact with family. Patient predominant concerns regarding RA included being awake in the OR and having pain during and after surgery.
Following anesthesia and surgery patients continued to believe that RA provided earlier family contact with better pain relief and less nausea. Significantly (p<0.001) more patients believed that RA allowed avoidance of GA side effects following surgery compared to prior to surgery.
After surgery patients were less concerned generally about the prospect of having a RA. However patients were significantly less concerned about the possibility of being awake in the OR (p<0.001) or having pain during or after the OR (p<0.001).
Discussion:
Patients understand the benefits that RA can provide in the peri-operative period. However patients have concerns about being awake in the OR and experiencing pain both during and after surgery. More effort should be made to educate patients in the pre-operative period and to provide reassurance that these concerns will be addressed.
ATTACHED FILES
Reg Anesth Pain Med 2005; 30(3):A10